ISPS HANDA NZ Women's Open

Round 3 - Ko takes second NZ Open title

March 01, 2015

World No.1 Lydia Ko’s one-under-par 71 final round was enough to secure her second national open, at the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open at Clearwater Golf Club in Christchurch.

Ko finished at 14-under-par and four clear of Australian amateur Hannah Green, who equalled the lowest round of the day with a four-under-par 68, to finish outright second. Charley Hull got within two of Ko after 10 holes but fell away over the final eight holes to finish in a share of sixth at seven-under-par.

Lydia Ko came to Christchurch this week for the first time as world No. 1 and with high expectations weighing on her young shoulders.

The talk was not whether the 17-year-old would win the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open at Clearwater for the second time in three years but by how much.

Ko didn’t disappoint and the young golfing superstar thrilled record galleries, setting a course record and personal best round of 11-under 61 on Saturday before closing today with a one-under 71 to claim the crown by four shots from Australian amateur Hannah Green.

Ko became the first person to win the New Zealand title for the second time in its seven-year history and her 14-under total for the 54 holes of 202 was four shots better than the previous record which she shared jointly with Australian Lindsey Wright.

Ko started the final round leading by the three from last year’s leading European money-winner, Charley Hull, from England, and birdies on the first two holes extended her lead to five. At that stage it seemed like a cakewalk for the leading lady of the links.

But when Ko double-bogeyed the eighth after hitting her approach into the water and bogeyed the ninth after over-hitting her tee shot on the par-3, Hull had closed to three at the turn and that became two when she eagled the par-5 10th and Ko birdied.

The turning point was the 12th. Ko birdied, Hull double-bogeyed after hitting into water over the green and that three-shot swing had Ko five ahead and marching to victory.

Hull, whose putter let her down on the front nine, unravelled completely after her eagle on 10. She was five-over for the last eight holes and finished seven shots behind Ko and tied for sixth. Ko said the wind was factor on the back nine and she “just tried to hang on”.

“I saw the PM (Prime Minister John Key) and he kind of patted my back and that gave me a little power and I made a couple of birdies after that.”

Ko said adding the New Zealand Open to the Australian Open she won the previous week had given her a better start to the year than she had dared hope for.

“I tied second in my first week, tied seventh the week after then won my last two events. So this is even better than I would ever have imagined. It’s just great to have won the two Opens back to back.”

West Australian Green is now having second thoughts about when she will turn pro having finished 20th in the Oates Victorian Open and 35th in the RACV Ladies Masters.

“Originally I planned for maybe in the next few years, but after the last couple of weeks I may have to change my mind. And it would certainly be great to keep the money,” she said.

Round 2 - Surprising new course record for Ko

February 28, 2015

World No.1 Lydia Ko was hitting the ball so poorly on the driving range that she decided to pack it all in and just look forward to having some fun during the 18 holes ahead.

A bogey on the first hole after a slightly misdirected drive and being short with her approach did little to lift her mood.

Seventeen holes later the world No.1 walked off Clearwater with a course record 11 under 61 to go with her first round 70 to sit atop of the leader board at 13-under-par.

With her 11 under par round, she tied the LET’s all-time record for the lowest 18 holes with six other players: Trish Johnson, Kirsty Taylor, Nina Reis, Lisa Holm Sorensen, Karrie Webb and So Yeon Ryu.

Ko’s round included an eagle, 10 birdies, six pars and one bogey. The 17-year-old will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open hosted by Christchurch.

England’s Charley Hull (70-64) is outright second, while Italy’s Giulia Sergas (68, 67) shares third with American Beth Allen (68, 67) who also eagled the second.

Another four players are a further shot back and will have to go low to have any chance of catching Ko. The quartet includes Oates Vic Open champion Marianne Skarpnord, Scotland’s Pamela Pretswell, American Marina Alex and Finland’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen.

On top of her poor practice routine, Ko also didn’t have a very good night’s sleep.

“And I really love my sleep. Nothing was really going the way I wanted it to but I got the eagle on two and a really great birdie on four.”

At one stage Ko had nine birdies in a 10-hole stretch.

“Probably the closest I have come to repeating this is when I was playing the Australian Open at Royal Canberra where on the first nine I made no pars. I had two bogeys, one eagle and the rest birdies,” she said.

Ko also flirted with 59.

“I didn’t know what I was shooting but when I went past the scoreboard on 13 (she was 10 under), I thought, oh, 59, that is the magical number but I’m pretty happy with 61,” she said.

Hull also entertained thoughts of going under the 60 barrier after her fourth straight birdie at the 13th.

“It did enter my mind. I was eight-under and thought I could possibly get to 59.”

She attributed her six-shot improvement from round one to better awareness on the greens. “Coming from Royal Melbourne last week the greens were so fast and really tricky. With these ones you can be a bit firmer and not allow so much break. I think I had 26 putts. I hit some good putts out there so I’m pretty happy with the way I played. You always believe you’ve left a few putts out there, but I holed a fair few as well. Going into the final day I think I’m in a good position,” she said.

Hull and Ko matched birdies on 6, 10, 11, 12, and 13 while the third member of their group, Australian Su Oh, also birdied 6, 10 and 13. The threesome shared an eagle and 22 birdies in the first 13 holes.

First round leader, Anne-Lise Caudal carded a three-over-par 75 to be in a tie for 21st position. Dame Laura Davies made her move into the top 10 today after carding a five-under 67. The 2010 NZ Women’s Open champion is at six-under-par and tied for ninth.

West Australian Hannah Green is the leading amateur, she is tied for ninth with Davies after rounds of 68 and 70.

The cut was made at one-over-par, 61 players will tee it up in the final round including four amateurs. The final group of Ko, Hull and Sergas will tee off at 12.33 local time.

Round 1 - Caudal leading jam packed leaderboard

February 27, 2015

France’s Anne-Lise Caudal birdied her 17th hole to move one clear of a jam packed leader board after the opening round of the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open hosted by Christchurch.

After a glorious day at Clearwater Golf Club, Caudal leads the field at six-under-par and one clear of Oates Victorian Open winner Marianne Skarpnord, Denmark’s Nanna Madsen and American Samantha Troyanovich. Another four players are at four-under-par, Australian amateur Hannah Green, American Beth Allen, Italian Giulia Sergas and Finland’s Noora Tamminen.

Calm conditions greeted the morning wave, which Troyanovich and Madsen took advantage of, posting their five-under-par rounds of 67. However Skarpnord and Caudal were out in the afternoon and had to content with breezy conditions.

Caudal she started on the 10th hole and got off to a perfect start, with birdies on the opening two holes. Birdies on the 13th and 16th holes followed, however her only blemish of the day came on the tough par 4 18th. Caudal hit her tee shot into the right hand fairway bunker and then found a watery grave with her second, before eventually finishing with a double bogey. She made the turn two-under-par.

The 30-year-old then went on a birdie blitz on the front nine, with consecutive birdies on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th holes. She was tied for the lead with two to play, a birdie on the par 3 8th saw her break free from the players already in the clubhouse.

It was a combination of her ball striking and putting which worked for her: “I hit the ball pretty well, my second shots were really good, I hit some pretty good shots very close and I was very confident on the putting so that helped me to keep going.”

Caudal has been well playing in the last two ALPG events in Australia and wasn’t surprised by her score. “I played some good rounds last year, and then last week and the week before also. I had two good weeks, I was very confident on the golf course, and I feel quite confident on this golf course,” she said.

Asked if she will feel pressure to keep the birdies flowing, she was very relaxed when she replied: “Not really, I am just going to do the same, shot after shot and focus on the present, if the birdies come great, if not, just keep patient, there is another day on Sunday.”

A record first day crowd of 5,800 spectators greeted the Rolex World No.1 Lydia Ko when she teed off in the afternoon in her home open. It wasn’t quite the day she wanted as she found it difficult to adjust to the type of shots she was hitting and the pace of the greens.

“Last week you were aiming to pitch 10 metres short of the green and asking it to run up. This week you have to say to yourself, let’s just hit it. Two different courses and two very different conditions. It was tough on me today to hit the ball by the hole and be comfortable.

“They (the greens) are very much slower here. Last week they were running 11 and a half to 12 and here they are 10 to 10 and a half. You watch your opponent come up short them you hit it well past. It was difficult to judge. It is totally different so now I have to get back into the NZ Open mode.”

Having said that, the World No.1 is just four shots back and tied for 14th place in a group with fellow teenager Charley Hull, also at two-under-par 70. Dame Laura Davies is at one-under-par and shares 23rd place. There are 40 players below par after the first day and the cut will be made to the top 50 professionals and those tied at the conclusion of round two on Saturday.

Scores

Pos.

Player

Score

R1

R2

R3

Total

Prize Money €

1

Lydia Ko

-14

70

61

71

202

30,000

2

Hannah Green (a)

-10

68

70

68

206

N/A

3

Nanna Koerstz Madsen

-9

67

69

71

207

20,300

4

Marianne Skarpnord

-8

67

69

72

208

12,400

4

Beth Allen

-8

68

67

73

208

12,400

6

Amelia Lewis

-7

73

65

71

209

6,620

6

Marta Sanz

-7

71

67

71

209

6,620

6

Pamela Pretswell

-7

69

67

73

209

6,620

6

Charley Hull

-7

70

64

75

209

6,620

10

Min Lee

-6

75

66

69

210

4,080

10

Sarah-Jane Smith

-6

72

68

70

210

4,080

10

Marina Alex

-6

69

67

74

210

4,080

13

Fabienne In-Albon

-5

72

71

68

211

3,310

13

Florentyna Parker

-5

71

69

71

211

3,310

13

Nicole Broch Larsen

-5

71

68

72

211

3,310

13

Giulia Sergas

-5

68

67

76

211

3,310

17

Wei Ling Hsu

-4

75

69

68

212

2,880

17

Katie Burnett

-4

69

74

69

212

3,310

17

Chantelle Cassidy (a)

-4

71

71

70

212

N/A

17

Anne-Lise Caudal

-4

66

75

71

212

3,310

17

Noora Tamminen

-4

68

73

71

212

3,310

22

Munchin Keh (a)

-3

70

72

71

213

N/A

22

Liv Cheng

-3

71

68

74

213

2,570

22

Felicity Johnson

-3

70

68

75

213

2,570

25

Nina Holleder

-2

71

74

69

214

2,220

25

Isabelle Boineau

-2

73

71

70

214

2,220

25

Stacey Keating

-2

70

73

71

214

2,220

25

Sarah Kemp

-2

71

72

71

214

2,220

25

Kris Tamulis

-2

70

72

72

214

2,220

25

Joanna Klatten

-2

73

68

73

214

2,220

25

Shelly Shin (a)

-2

72

68

74

214

N/A

25

Rebecca Artis

-2

69

70

75

214

2,220

25

Liz Young

-2

71

68

75

214

2,220

25

Laura Davies

-2

71

67

76

214

2,220

35

Csilla Lajtai-Rozsa

-1

73

72

70

215

1,800

35

Marion Ricordeau

-1

74

70

71

215

1,800

35

Patricia Sanz Barrio

-1

76

68

71

215

1,800

35

Karin Sjodin

-1

76

67

72

215

1,800

35

Su Oh

-1

76

66

73

215

1,800

40

Tonje Daffinrud

E

76

68

72

216

1,560

40

Nikki Garrett

E

74

69

73

216

1,560

40

Isabella Ramsay

E

71

70

75

216

1,560

43

Lorie Kane

1

76

69

72

217

1,317.14

43

Jing Yan

1

75

70

72

217

1,317.14

43

Valentine Derrey

1

74

71

72

217

1,317.14

43

Stephanie Na

1

70

74

73

217

1,317.14

43

Tamie Durdin

1

72

71

74

217

1,317.14

43

Bree Arthur

1

75

67

75

217

1,317.14

43

Ann-Kathrin Lindner

1

71

71

75

217

1,317.14

50

Caroline Martens

2

73

72

73

218

1,190

50

Michele Thomson

2

74

71

73

218

1,190

50

Gwladys Nocera

2

74

69

75

218

1,190

50

Danielle Montgomery

2

73

70

75

218

1,190

54

Leigh Whittaker

3

71

72

76

219

1,140

55

Linda Henriksson

4

74

70

76

220

1,060

55

Eleanor Givens

4

69

74

77

220

1,060

55

Julia Boland

4

71

70

79

220

1,060

58

Samantha Troyanovich

5

67

77

77

221

980

59

Christine Wolf

7

71

74

78

223

900

59

Sydney Cox

7

71

74

78

223

900

59

Katelyn Must

7

70

73

80

223

900

The Cut

62

Rebecca Codd

2

78

68

146

62

Sophia Popov

2

76

70

146

62

Alison Whitaker

2

76

70

146

62

Jenna Hunter

2

74

72

146

62

Vikki Laing

2

74

72

146

62

Kylie Walker

2

73

73

146

62

Sally Watson

2

72

74

146

62

Christel Boeljon

2

71

75

146

70

Michelle Koh

3

74

73

147

70

Victoria Lovelady

3

74

73

147

70

Lina Boqvist

3

73

74

147

70

Breanna Elliott

3

73

74

147

70

Brooke Hamilton (a)

3

73

74

147

70

Dewi Claire Schreefel

3

70

77

147

76

Sophie Gustafson

4

78

70

148

76

Jessica Speechley

4

76

72

148

76

Kate Scarpetta

4

75

73

148

76

Pei-Yun Chien

4

73

75

148

80

Wenyung Keh (a)

5

78

71

149

80

Anne Van Dam

5

78

71

149

80

Hannah Collier

5

77

72

149

80

Sophie Walker

5

76

73

149

80

Maria Mcbride

5

76

73

149

80

Amelia Garvey (a)

5

75

74

149

80

Ae Young Shin

5

75

74

149

80

Amy Boulden

5

75

74

149

80

Alexandra Orchard

5

74

75

149

80

Heather Macrae

5

74

75

149

80

Daisy Nielsen

5

73

76

149

80

Jordana Keaton

5

71

78

149

92

Vicky Thomas

6

79

71

150

92

Huei Ju Shih

6

77

73

150

92

Yu-Ju Chen

6

76

74

150

92

Alison Walshe

6

76

74

150

92

Chloe Leurquin

6

74

76

150

92

Bo-Hyun Park (a)

6

74

76

150

92

Whitney Hillier

6

74

76

150

92

Sarah-Jane Boyd

6

74

76

150

92

Annabel Dimmock

6

73

77

150

92

Yu-Sang Hou (a)

6

73

77

150

92

Connie Chen

6

71

79

150

103

Nadine Smith

7

77

74

151

103

Hannah Burke

7

77

74

151

103

Alanna Campbell (a)

7

76

75

151

103

Carly Booth

7

76

75

151

103

Steffi Kirchmayr

7

76

75

151

103

Phillis Meti

7

74

77

151

103

Julianne Alvarez (a)

7

73

78

151

110

Nina Muehl

8

79

73

152

110

Lauren Blease

8

77

75

152

110

Elmay Viking

8

75

77

152

110

Ai-Chen Kuo

8

74

78

152

110

Georgina Simpson

8

74

78

152

110

Laura Jansone

8

72

80

152

110

Adriana Brent

8

72

80

152

117

Cathryn Bristow

9

77

76

153

117

Mireia Prat

9

74

79

153

119

Stacey Tate

10

79

75

154

119

Juliana Hung (a)

10

79

75

154

119

Lauren Hibbert

10

76

78

154

122

Katy Jarochowicz

11

77

78

155

123

Tyler Kingi (a)

12

82

74

156

123

Corie Hou

12

79

77

156

123

Elissa-Jayne Orr

12

79

77

156

126

Ching-Tzu Chen (a)

13

78

79

157

126

Ellen Davies-Graham

13

76

81

157

128

Hathaikarn Wongwaikijphaisal

14

79

79

158

129

Jemma Partridge

16

81

79

160

130

Grace Senior (a)

18

80

82

162

130

Kate Chadwick (a)

18

77

85

162

132

Rebecca Green

19

84

79

163

133

Grace Lennon

21

85

80

165

133

Kristen Farmer

21

84

81

165

RETD

Holly Clyburn

RETD

Breanna Gill

RETD

Jan Manoonpong

RETD

Gillian Rae

Preview

The third tournament of the 2015 LET season takes place in New Zealand this week, with a high quality field of 132 competitors from the LET and ALPG. The championship is being played for the third straight year at Clearwater Golf Club in Christchurch, which also hosted the championship for the first time in 2009, before joining the LET schedule. In the past six years, the championship has played a leading role in the development of women golfers in New Zealand. Here are three reasons to get excited about the action this week.

World No.1 Lydia Ko:Fresh from winning the ISPS HANDA Women’s Australian Open on Sunday, the best woman golfer on the planet will headline the field at a venue where she won two years ago and where she finished second last year, ending just one stroke behind the winner. Lydia, who was the leading amateur as a 12-year-old in 2010, went onto win the title at Clearwater in 2013 to become the first home champion and the youngest winner in the history of the LET aged 15 years, nine months and 17 days. Lydia, 17, is a perfect example of the opportunity this championship has presented. She is one of four former winners in the field along with Frenchwoman Gwladys Nocera (2009), England’s Dame Laura Davies (2010) and Australian Kristie Smith (2011). South Korean Mi Hyang Lee has not returned to defend the title, but all have been great winners and the ISPS HANDA NZ Women’s Open has formed a rich and memorable history in a short time.

Su-Hyun Oh:After winning the RACV Ladies Masters a fortnight ago, Australian Su-Hyun Oh has become a member of the LET and will be playing in the NZ Open. As Oh was not a member of the LET when she won the RACV Ladies Masters, she does not currently appear on the 2015 LET Order of Merit but this could be the week when she makes her entry on the ranking. Su tied for ninth place in the 2013 NZ Open at Clearwater and hopes to improve on that performance. The No.1 ranked World Amateur in October 2013 and the youngest player to ever qualify for the Women’s Australian Open in 2009 at aged 12, Su hopes to be paired with the No.1 professional Lydia Ko.

Leading LET Rookies in the Field:After the first two events of 2015, there are currently four first year LET members on the Omega Rookie of the Year rankings. Last year’s Xiamen Open winner Ssu-Chia Cheng of Chinese Taipei occupies first position after finishing seventh at the RACV Ladies Masters and 33rd at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Australian Open. Norwegian Tonje Daffinrud, Spain’s Marta Sanz and Anne Van Dam of the Netherlands are third, fourth and fifth on the ranking respectively after their finishes in the RACV Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast and all playing in New Zealand after showing promising signs of early form.